


The New Old Fashioned Way

by Rhinozilla



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Comfort, F/M, shameless holiday fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-31
Updated: 2016-12-31
Packaged: 2018-09-13 15:15:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9130081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rhinozilla/pseuds/Rhinozilla
Summary: Daryl has hated music since his time as a prisoner of the Saviors. Carol wants to help him put the trauma behind him.





	

They were good about avoiding each other’s sore spots. Carol couldn’t stand the sight of flowers anymore, so Daryl stopped bringing them to her. Instead, he brought back fun or unusual buttons that he came across on runs. Daryl hated listening to music anymore, so the record player in the house collected dust.

But flowers were beautiful and music was an escape, so they had been working on those things together.

Today, for instance. Carol wouldn’t say she’d gotten into the ‘holiday spirit,’ but there was a spring in her step and fresh air in her lungs when the first heavy snow of winter rolled through the area. People were talking about getting Christmas trees, and decorations were starting to come out all over the place. As for the two of them, Daryl put in minimal effort to plop half of a tree branch in the living room with a red nerf football stuck on it, calling it the “apocalyptic Charlie Brown tree.”

Carol had let him have that one. She had taught Judith how to cut snowflakes out of white paper, though Judith had decided that red and blue and gold snowflakes were more fun. Now their house was littered with them. She had even steeled herself and made a wreath out of plastic and cloth flowers. They were plain, green, nondescript things, but they were still flowers so…she was counting that as progress.

Daryl was sitting askew on the couch, one leg hanging off the armrest, and re-lacing his boots, but Carol immediately felt his eyes snap to her as she dusted off the record player.

“I did some digging around the Kingdom,” she announced without turning around. “Jerry has boxes of old vinyl records. He let me borrow a few.”

Daryl made a noncommittal noise, and Carol made her selection from the four albums, setting it in the player. She swiveled on her heel and looked at him. His face looked like he was preparing to wince. Carol didn’t start it up.

“Is this okay?” she asked. “I don’t want you to miss out on music for the rest of your life because of…” She tried to be delicate. “A bad song.”

Daryl’s lips were a thin, flat line, but he deflated a bit. “Okay.”

Carol frowned. “Daryl, I mean it. Is this okay? I know you don’t like…I’d like to help you…put that behind you. If it gets to be too much, I can turn it off.”

Daryl seemed to think it over. Then he gave a more willing nod. “Yeah, I…okay.”

Carol offered a smile and wound up the old record player. She placed the needle on the record and turned toward him again as the music started.

The first few beats were cheery and full of pep, and Daryl visibly flinched. He had never told her exactly what song it had been…to ruin all of music for him…but she desperately hoped she hadn’t just picked the same one. Immediately, Daryl loosened out of his flinch and tried his hardest to look okay with the upbeat tune. He quickly sought out Carol’s eyes, and she held his gaze as an anchor for him.

She gave him a comforting smile, and her hips wiggled with the music as the record reached the singing part. She snatched up the empty paper towel roll from the table and used it as a microphone to serenade him.

“Rockin’ around the Christmas tree at the Christmas party hop.” She mouthed the words and bounced on her heels as she stepped toward him, tapping into all the corny, cheesy dance moves that she knew.

“Mistletoe hung where you can see, every couple tries to stop.”

Daryl watched her, amusement in his eyes that didn’t quite get a smile out of him. She tossed her head a bit side to side, getting more into it as she stood in front of him.

“Rockin’ around the Christmas tree. Let the Christmas spirit ring.” The paper towel roll turned into the neck of a guitar. “Later we’ll have some pumpkin pie, and we’ll do some caroling.”

She tossed the roll aside and held her hands out toward him. His eyes widened, and he gave a tiny shake of the head. She didn’t want to push, but if they were going to do full immersion therapy, then she wanted to see how far he was willing to go. She wiggled her fingers in invitation, and he sighed, taking her hands and letting her coax him to his feet.

“You will get a sentimental feeling when you hear voices singing, let’s be jolly!” She tugged one of his hands around her back, and she held his other hand aloft with her own. Her other arm slid up to his shoulder. She bounced hard on her heels to get them both on rhythm. “Deck the halls with bows of holly!”

Daryl let her guide him into a simple, junior high school kind of dancing: just stepping side to side as they turned in a little circle. The song went on, and Carol moved enthusiastically, earning a little smirk out of him. She held one of his hands and stepped sideways, spinning on her own with his hand over her head. He chuckled and tugged her inward. She curled along his arm and into his chest.

“Ooh, see? You can dance,” she teased, falling back into the predictable routine.

His arm around her back squeezed her a bit, and he softened a bit.

“Got a good teacher.”

She laughed and gave him a brief kiss on the jaw. Daryl turned his head so that their lips met, and while she was distracted, he tilted her sideways. Carol’s instinct was to tense, but his arm around her back was firm. He lowered her into an awkward sort of ballroom dip, still kissing her, and Carol couldn’t help but giggle into his mouth. It was a beautiful attempt, and God, was she proud as Hell of him for it.

They straightened back up, and she gave him a big smile, fluffing her hand through the back of his hair.

“I don’t remember teaching you that,” she giggled, feeling warmth color her cheeks.

Daryl winked at her, and they continued their simple little dance even as the record ended and the air filled with gentle static. He kissed her again, properly this time, and she looped her arms around his neck as the kiss went long.


End file.
